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“Good.” Their teasing was one of his favorite things.
She grasped the steering wheel, excitement making her green eyes glow. “What do I do first?”
“Seat belt.” He reached across her, pulled the seat belt on, and clicked it. His hand brushed her hip.
She pulled in a breath, the pulse in her neck going like mad. “All right. That was exciting. Next?”
He smiled, liking how he affected her. He pushed a button above the windshield and one of the huge garage doors slid open. “Now put your foot on the brake and?—”
“Left or right?”
“Pardon me?”
“Is the brake pedal on the left or on the right? Do I keep my feet close to both?”
Oh. She really hadn’t driven any kind of vehicle.
“Brake is on the left, or in the middle really. It’s the wider pedal. The gas is on the right, longer and skinnier. You use your right foot for both.”
“Really? Not teasing? I mean, I have two feet and there are two pedals.”
“I can’t argue with your logic, so you’re gonna have to trust me. Give your left foot a break—I mean, let it be lazy and do nothing.”
“If you say so.” Looking down at her feet, she said, “So, right foot on the brake and …”
“Then push the start button.” He gestured.
She pushed it and the Porsche came to life, though it made no revving noise as it was fully electric.
“Okay,” he said. “You’re in park, so you’ll want to push that lever down for drive and then slowly push on the gas. The car has a lot of power and you don’t want to plow through an Aston-Martin or Rolls Royce on accident.”
“Derek.” Her voice squeaked. “I’m not so sure about this. Why don’t you drive us out of here, take me to some back country road, and then we can practice driving?”
“Though I don’t mind the idea of getting you alone on a back country road…” He winked, and she smiled and seemed to relax marginally. “I have complete confidence in you. You’re a smart and with-it lady. You can do this. And I was teasing again. Honestly, the car will stop you before you hit anything.”
“Okay.” She shook her head, pushed the toggle switch down, clung to the steering wheel, and pushed on the gas. They shot forward.
She screamed. The car beeped at them and slammed to a stop, the seatbelt catching each of them across the chest. Derek looked up and whistled. They were inches away from the front bumper of his dad’s black Lamborghini Aventador. The car wasn’t in production any longer and was his dad’s favorite. It was probably the only car in the garage close to Derek’s Bugatto Divo’s price tag.
“Oh, my!” she gasped. “I’m horrible at this.”
Derek’s heart raced. “You actually aren’t. You didn’t hit the Lambo. That one actually might’ve been bad to demo. It’s my dad’s car, and they don’t make them any longer, so …” He lifted his hands in a teasing gesture.
Ellery slugged him in the shoulder. “You people are insane,” she said, but she was smiling.
You people? She was his people. She knew that. Right?
He thought she might demand he drive out of here, but instead, she very gingerly pressed on the gas and eased the car out of the garage and into the open courtyard. She waited for the guard to open the gate, waved jauntily as if she had no fears, and then crept out of the courtyard and down the winding road to the village.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she murmured over and over again, the cutest smile on her face.
“You’re doing great,” he assured her.
They were going very slow down the road, but it was a narrow road with some game-ending drop-offs, so he was okay with her taking it slow and not testing if the car was truly accident-proof.
Finally, they made it to the gates that opened up to the village. The guards opened them. Derek waved and they saluted him. He didn’t remember so much security, or all the guards being so stiff, but T had explained that after their mum’s death, Ray had become vigilant and more protective than ever. His general brother had relaxed since falling for Macey. Somewhat.
Derek didn’t blame him for not letting his guard down. They still didn’t know who or what had killed their mum, and it was an open wound for each of them in a different way. Curt and Aliya were apparently searching for a ‘cure’ to some curse that may have killed their mum. Derek didn’t know at this point what to believe. If Curt and Aliya were willing to spend time looking while they patrolled the mountainous trails that bordered their country with Switzerland, he wouldn’t complain. If some cure would protect Macey, Aliya, Hattie, and maybe Ellery someday, he would be grateful for that.
